Another Asymmetric... "The Multi-Tool"

General Discussion
1

So I was trying to figure out what to build for my next personal board,  I spent the winter in Mexico getting fat on tacos and cervezas.  I basically came home to a 20 board self-made quiver that I couldn’t ride… I knew it was easier to make a thicker board than to drop the weight, and I wanted this one to be special since it was the first board to come outta my new shop…

I have been influenced by 5 shapers recently, and I wanted to try to combine all their various theories into one board.  Here they are and what I like about what they are doing:

Maurice Cole and the deep concaves he’s been carving into both tow-in and regular short boards.  When theres a full inch of concave in your board, you don’t have to pump for speed, just set a line, go fast, and try to look cool while doing it.

Ryan Burch has taken asymmetric boards to the next level.  He shapes what he wants and rips the ever living crap out of them.

Daniel Thompson has changed the definition of the modern shortboard with his parallel outlines.  I know he’s not the first and none of these guys are, but I’m seeing a lot of his boards in the water and the owners seem to be going faster and catching more waves than before.

Donald Brink, every time this guy talks on asymmetric theory, it just makes so much sense to me.  His main contribution to my design was moving the pivot point to underneath the ankle vs the middle of the board.  This also helps control the speed generated by the deep single concave while turning. Also he’s the guy that has been making the heelside rail fuller than the toe-side one which also makes a ton of sense when you think of how we surf.

Lastly,  Matt Biolos, he’s been making user friendly boards that work in the sloppy conditions we all deal with most of the time,  the design contribution i liked of his, was both the fullness of his boards, and the side cut snowboard style rails which I chose to use on the toe-side only.

And of course all my fellow Swaylockians, (with the exception of a few here recently)…  You’ll notice that the first one of these boards is full-carbon fiber.  There are a ton of threads that warn against using it, but I found some that was 9oz and was stitched Bi-axial, allowing the board to flex rather than snap or dent, so I went with it and I’m glad I did.  

The boards are both stringerless, vac-bagged, EPS, epoxy boards, built start to finish by yours truly.

Since this board’s design theory is all over the place and comes from so many artists and designers, I’m calling this model, “The Multi-Tool”

Thanks for the inspiration!

G

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2

WOW   , your a brave man, good luck.

3

Viva la revolucion!

 

4

Outstanding. Exemplary. I am a fan. Let’s have a ride report soon. 

All the best.  

5

Greg,

I did wait to post this thing until I had a few sessions under my belt.  The first time I got it in the water, was a big North swell here in Hatteras, so mostly lefts(backside for me).  It took some getting used to for sure.   I didn’t have the best session on it.  In theory, all these concepts should work and I’ve used most of them separately in other boards.  I took a step back and examined myself,  at this point I was still a bit heavier than I liked to be.  I was tired from working a bunch and in a bit of a slump coming off vacation early to be with my dad after he suffered a massive heart attack.   Thankfully, he got better, I dropped a few pounds, and things started getting back to normal.  So once I was there both physically and mentally, I could give this board a fair go.  Here’s what I noticed and what I changed when I made the orange one:

Two to three strokes and it lifts out of the water due to the catamaran style hull.  Tons of speed, especially if I kept a high line.  I rarely pump on this board to make sections and when I do, she really cruises.   I went with hard rails all the way to the nose on both the heel and toe-sides.  I think I might go with a rounder , more forgiving, heel-side rail on future models.  Now I like how it feels, but it definitely took some getting used to.  The board needs to be surfed off the tail during turns to really put that “v” to work.   It goes rail to rail effortlessly.  And that is an aspect that my surfing really lacked since I’m more of a slider than a turner.  My absolute favorite thing to do on this board is when I’m approaching a section at full speed and would normally try an air or huge floater, now, I’ll just commit to a power turn off the top and it hooks around 180 degrees so effortlessly.

I realized the key to riding a board with design elements so extreme, is knowing what to expect from the board when you shift your weight, it’s going to turn, and turn fast and effortless.  I’ve been riding it in all conditions this summer and absolutuely love it.  Mine is a 5ft 8in by 19in by 2in thick.  Now, I’m 6ft 174lbs… 

On a side note,

If you plan on building anything similar, the concaves are an absolute pain in the ass to stick fin boxes in.  I used 3 different routers, a dremmel tool, and clamps to make it happen.  I’d go with Glass on’s with the next one.

Thanks for the interest.

G

 

 

 

6

G,

Thanks, this is the best “ride report” I’ve read.

You got some balls!

Me I appriecate those who grab an idea, develop it and reap the stoke from it.

Mahalo Nui

7

Way to get outside that box with confidence. The thought behind your design is intelligent and it looks to be well executed. I can’t wait to see how and why you continue to refine this shape based on your goals and experiences. Well done.

 

8

Agreed. I’ve been building, buying (George Gall PlusOne) and riding asymms for about 5 years. I’m still not through experimenting. I really like what you are doing. I’m not ready to go catamaran yet, but I will be going further with mine. 

all the best

9

BTW. Nice work on the orange. How?

all the best

10

hofnar, very very creative. They make me go cross eyed and I cant imagine trying to surf one.  Thanks for sharing the stoke. Cool shot of you and the grom, too. mike

11

Good stuff.

Keep doing it!

12

Thanks again guys!

The orange one was done for a guy that took the carbon one for a few knee high waves.  He got it right away, flew down the line, turned really smoothly, then ordered one.  I made the tweaks I thought the board needed and he picked it up.  He hated the thing his first session!  He kept missing waves and burying the nose.  Later I found out that he was using a borrowed futures tri fin set, when the thing is set up for either twins or quads.  His fins showed up at the local shop a few weeks later and he called back with a positive ride report both from him and another guy he let try it. I was happy he liked it, because good luck trying to sell this thing!

 I definitely don’t expect to sell another one of these.  It was a ton of work and I’d love to refine the design for myself, maybe a thruster option?  Channels? Concave deck? Jet bottom? Golf ball dents? Vents?  I try to build extreme versions of most designs for my own boards, prove the design, then tone it down for customers.

Greg, 

The orange was done with resin tint, I tinted the resin and glassed the board with 9oz tightly woven e glass on both sides, then fill-coated with orange tinted resin to really lock in the color and make sure the laps weren’t visible, sanded, added logos, then regular clear hot-coat

This board was supposed to be the latest and greatest, I’m back, here’s my new factory, but ended up having a few obstacles on the way.  The first was as I was finish sanding the shaped blank, I must have hit a bad patch of foam, and the nose exploded into 4 pieces.  I was able to control myself and not punch the rest of the board into more chunks, thankfully.   I epoxied it all back together, Then in a true leap of faith, I decided to wrap it in $150 worth of carbon. The next obstacle is pictured below as I was dialing in the depth setting on my new futures install kit and the router bit slipped.  My new room had blood on the floor before it even had foam dust. I thought the universe was telling me to give up and get a real job!.  


13

Atta Boy!

Suffer for your art.

I like what you got going.

Don’t stop!

14

love them mate, super keen on almost all of your inspiration too…

can i ask i assume youre a natural footer?

as in longer tail rail on your toe side?